Acta Comeniana 29 (LIII), 2015

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Texts, Images and the Materiality of the Book: Architectonic Paratexts in Early Modern Natural Philosophy and the Bibliospace

12 May 2025, 14.00, Lecture room, Institute of Philosophy, Czech Academy of Sciences Prof. Dr. Márton Szentpéteri Ph.D. (Moholy-Nagy University of Art and...

Pozvánka na prezentaci knih

Petra Pavlas, Knize knih vstřícLenka Řezníková, Historiam videre 6. května 2025, 17.00, Café Husovka

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ČLÁNKY / ARTICLES / STUDIEN

Sandra BIHLMAIER, Platonism in Humanist Logic Textbooks of the Sixteenth Century: Melanchthon, Ramus and the Philippo-Ramists

Jan ČÍŽEK, Peter Chelčický und Johann Amos Comenius: vom Gedanken der Gewaltfreiheit zum Konzept einer universalen Toleranz

Jan ČÍŽEK, Peter Chelčický und Johann Amos Comenius: vom Gedanken der Gewaltfreiheit zum Konzept einer universalen Toleranz

Our aim in this study is to examine the attitude to violence expressed in the works of two leading figures in the history of Czech philosophical thought. Several scholars in the field of Comeniology have expressed the belief that not only clear parallels but also direct continuity can be traced between the views of Petr Chelčický and those of Jan Amos Comenius. To make a proper judgement as to whether Comenius and Chelčický shared identical attitudes to the question of the legitimacy of violence, we focus first on Comenius's climactic work, in which his point of view is most fully expressed. Subsequently we analyse Chelčický's views and compare them with Comenius's attitude. A comparison of the works of the two thinkers leads to the conclusion that on the one hand Comenius's key opinions are much more comprehensively founded; on the other, he does not restrict himself to a critique of physical violence but also deals with the spiritual struggle. Any analogy between Chelčický and Comenius's attitude to violence can therefore be related only to the early works of Comenius in which his concept of universal tolerance was not yet thoroughly thought through. The study therefore focuses on the issue of the development of Comenius's concept of tolerance as well.

Jacques JOSEPH, Henry More: The Spirit of Nature as Imaginatio Dei

Jacques JOSEPH, Henry More: The Spirit of Nature as Imaginatio Dei

The paper presents Henry More's doctrine of the Spirit of Nature. Through a thorough analysis of both his earlier and later work, it shows in which regards he draws from traditional Neo-Platonic notions of a soul of the world and in which regards he transforms it in order to fit it into the framework of early modern natural philosophy. The guideline is an attempt to map possible parallels between the functions of imagination on a microcosmic scale and the Spirit of Nature on a macrocosmic one. Although this parallel cannot be pushed through to its ultimate consequences within More's system, it nevertheless proves to be fruitful. Both the Spirit of Nature and the imagination are for More something ambivalent, both noble and gross, on the edge between body and soul. As such, however, they are remnants of More's early gradualism that are in conflict with the psycho-physical dualism he endorsed in his later work.

Radmila PRCHAL PAVLÍČKOVÁ, Konversionserzählungen. Die Darstellung des Glaubenswechsels in lutherischen Leichenpredigten aus dem 16. Jahrhundert

Radmila PRCHAL PAVLÍČKOVÁ, Konversionserzählungen. Die Darstellung des Glaubenswechsels in lutherischen Leichenpredigten aus dem 16. Jahrhundert

This study focuses on Lutheran sermons at funerals of the first generation of followers of the teachings of Martin Luther. It provides an analysis of the content of passages in which conversion to Lutheranism is described, with the aim of capturing topical schemes, the motivational and thematic construction of the narrative, and if possible the relationship of the text to previous literary tradition and similar genres, especially in comparison with other texts categorised as "conversion narratives". The specific quality of descriptions of conversions in funeral sermons relies on the fact that they are reports by somebody else, always composed by a priest who, thanks to his profession, enjoys special authority. Next, the descriptions of the conversions originated some time after the actual conversion, always in connection with the death of converts, and as a part of the consequent burial rituals and commemorative practices. Finally, they are parts of texts that were intended for the comfort and instruction of the bereaved and the creation of a good memorial for the deceased. These aspects provide some of the specific characteristics in descriptions of conversions in the funeral sermons, above all the extent of the description of post-conversion life, thus establishing the ideal behaviour and virtue of the convert. Another important motif is the successful culmination of the conversion through the keeping of the faith during the time of dying and death.

Sergio García RODRÍGUEZ, Descartes on Drugs: The Limits of the Cartesian Intervention in Body and Mind

Sergio García RODRÍGUEZ, Descartes on Drugs: The Limits of the Cartesian Intervention in Body and Mind

This paper aims to analyze René Descartes' attitude to drugs as forms of intervention which can help to delimit the spaces of the Cartesian correct and incorrect ways to transform the world. For this purpose, the paper distinguishes between medical and recreational drugs in order to give a proper account of the Cartesian position. Furthermore, the analysis focuses on historical and philosophical reasons which explain Descartes' attitude.

Kateřina ŠOLCOVÁ, Johannes Jessenius's Pro vindiciis contra tyrannos Oratio and the Reception of Monarchomachy in the Bohemian Lands

Kateřina ŠOLCOVÁ, Johannes Jessenius's Pro vindiciis contra tyrannos Oratio and the Reception of Monarchomachy in the Bohemian Lands

The paper deals with the monarchomachic work Pro vindiciis contra tyrannos Oratio by Johannes Jessenius (Jan Jesenský, 1566–1621). Jessenius's work is first concisely put into the context of the author's life and his philosophical work, then into connection with the political thinking of the 16^th and the beginning of the 17^th centuries. The work is noteworthy because of the fact that its author projected his theoretical ideas into the actual political struggle, specifically in the context of the Estates Uprising that took place in the Bohemian lands in 1618–1620. A critical edition of Jessenius's work follows the introductory study.

RECENZE / REVIEWS / REZENSIONEN

Kamil Boldan, Bořek Neškudla, Petr Voit, The Reception of Antiquity in Bohemian Book Culture from the Beginning of Printing until 1547
Lucie Storchová, Bohemian School Humanism and its Editorial Practices
(Jana KOLÁŘOVÁ)

Victor M. Salas – Robert L. Fastiggi (eds.), A Companion to Francisco Suárez (Andrés L. JAUME)

Jan Malura, Meditace a modlitba v literatuře raného novověku (Radmila PRCHAL PAVLÍČKOVÁ)

Valentin Weigel – Sämtliche Schriften. Neue Edition, Vol. 10: Vom Ort der Welt. Scholasterium christianum (Martin ŽEMLA)

Simon J. G. Burton, The Hallowing of Logic: The Trinitarian Method of Richard Baxter's Methodus Theologiae (Petr PAVLAS)

Iva Lelková, Sny o mnohosti světů. Athanasius Kircher (1602–1680), John Wilkins a jejich obraz vesmíru (Daniel ŠPELDA)

Olga Fejtová, „Já pevně věřím a vyznávám..." Rekatolizace na Novém Městě pražském v době pobělohorské
Olga Fejtová, „A tak ne oni nás, ale my je zpravovati máme!" Jednota bratrská v městech pražských v době předbělohorské a rejstřík členů pražského sboru (Martin NODL)

Johann Crüger, Praxis Pietatis Melica. Edition und Dokumentation der Werkgeschichte, hrsg. von Hans-Otto Korth, Wolfgang Miersemann (Jan MALURA)

Fletcher DuBois – Hans-Peter Gerstner (eds.), Comenius in Heidelberg: Student in Heidelberg – Lehrer der Menschheit (Iveta MAREŠOVÁ)

Kateřina Šolcová, Comenius im Blick. Der Briefwechsel zwischen Milada Blekastad und Dmitrij Tschižewskij (Jana STEJSKALOVÁ)

NEKROLOGY / OBITUARIES / NEKROLOGE

„Zur Fülle des Wissens gehört die Menschlichkeit." In memoriam Klaus Schaller (V. SCHIFFEROVÁ)

In memoriam Radim Palouš (V. SCHIFFEROVÁ)